April 11, 2010 | science news
"New probe technology illuminates the activation of light-sensing cells."
Through ingenious combinations of roughly 20 amino acids, the basic building blocks of life, genes can build the proteins that comprise everything from the simplest bacteria to the human brain. In new research published today in Nature, scientists unveil a new technique to illuminate the function of those proteins. The method of genetically targeting a non-natural amino acid to specific locations within a protein could theoretically be adapted to place a fluorescent probe at any position in any protein in a mammalian cell.
 
  Kelly Dagget Joins Lab
 
  Sarmistha Ray Joins Lab
 
  Neeraj Kapoor successfully defends PhD Thesis entitled "Unzipping Amyloid Fibrils: How a Novel Calcium Binding
Protein, NUCB1, Prevents the Formation of Amyloid Fibrils"
 
  ShixinYe joins Pierre Paoletti's Laboratory of Neurobiology in Paris, France
 
  Santosh Menon recently accepted a new position at the VGTI (Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute) in the Florida Center
for Innovation. www.ohsu.edu—vgti



 
 

Feb 2010 | Work From SakmarLab Highlighted As One of "100 Discoveries Advancing Medicine"

The Rockefeller University Hospital celebrates its centennial in 2010. Important scientific discoveries made by Rockefeller University faculty members are highlighted on a special website.
 Drug discovery research from the Sakmar Laboratory is presented in the article entitled:
"Blocking HIV Infection and Improving Bone Marrow Transplantation by Targeting Chemokine Receptors."

Nov 2009 | 2010 Biophysical Society Meeting Selects Three SakmarLab Abstracts

Members of the SakmarLab submitted six abstracts to the Biophysical Society Meeting to be held in San Francisco in February 2010.  Three of the abstracts were chosen by the selection committee for platform oral presentations.  The other abstracts will be presented in poster sessions at the meeting.

Platforms 115. Platform AJ:
Protein Aggregates Tue, Feb 23, 9:00 - 9:15 AM 2189-Plat -
AMYLOID-LIKE CROSS-BETA STRUCTURE POLYMORPHISM: AN ENERGETIC POINT OF VIEW.
Xavier Periole, Thomas Huber, Thomas P. Sakmar, Siewert-Jan Marrink. University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands, Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.

Platforms 104. Platform AH:
Membrane Receptors & Signal Transduction Mon, Feb 22, 4:00 - 4:15 PM 2162-Plat -
A NOVEL METHOD TO PROBE MEMBRANE PROTEIN TOPOLOGY USING UNNATURAL AMINO ACID MUTAGENESIS AND ANTIBODY EPITOPE TAGGING
Saranga Naganathan, Shixin Ye, Terence Duarte, Thomas Huber, Pallavi Sachdev, Thomas P. Sakmar. www.sakmarlab.org, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.

Platforms 104. Platform AH:
Membrane Receptors & Signal Transduction Mon, Feb 22, 4:00 - 4:15 PM 2164-Plat -
MOLECULAR MODEL OF THE OPSIN-G-PROTEIN COMPLEX
Parag Mukhopadhyay, Thomas P. Sakmar, Thomas Huber. www.sakmarlab.org, Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.